Know Thy Self
by ByteMe
Summary: An AU fic that shows how events may have changed if Neo and Trinity were closer earlier in the first film. Please review!
1. Default Chapter

**Know Thy Self**

Neo's lips hot on her cold neck awoke Trinity from her peaceful slumber in her cot on board the Nebuchadnezzar. She was slow to react, eventually sitting up and kissing Neo's lips sweetly, her tiredness showing. She was slightly annoyed that Neo had awoken her, after their last attempt of spending time together, they were almost caught by their captain, and Trinity was afraid that someone might actually catch them this time. Neo had been freed for nearly five months, and after his first couple of weeks on the Neb, his relationship with Trinity blossomed into a good friendship, and now was at the point of being a proper lover's relationship, although their fellow crew did not know of this event. The rest thought that they were just friends, but all had their suspicions, many times one of the others would catch Neo in Trinity's room, or just leaving, and each and every time he'd make up some bizarre excuse to what he was doing there, though if the suspicion had been erased, no one would really have cared. It was not the concept of their being a relationship; it was just that this was Trinity and Neo. Trinity, who had always said that no man was worth anything, who had turned down every guy who looked in her direction, and who has become one of the resistance's leading figures, not to mention her fame found in the world of hacking. The other member of this couple was Neo, who had performed what seemed to be Miracles. He had not been to the Oracle's yet, but everyone was already prepared for him to be announced as the one. The plan was for him to go into the matrix for his first time tomorrow, in order to finally receive his prophesy.

Trinity yawned, freeing herself of the last elements of sleep, 'Neo, what's the time? What are you doing here?'

Neo told her, 'it's about ten PM, you've been asleep for only an hour or so, you disappeared and went to bed early. I'm just checking that you're ok. I wanted to speak to you before I went to bed.'

'What do you want to talk about?'

'I'm just not sure about this all, I mean, about the whole being the One thing. The oracle might say that I'm not the one, but she might say that I am. If she says I'm not then I'll have let down the whole crew and everyone's hopes in me would have been wasted, but then if I am the one, I'm meant to save Zion, a city I've never been to before in my life, I'm meant to stop all these machines that I know barely anything about and have only encountered three times in the five months I've been in the real world. How am I meant to know what to do when I don't even know what I'm saving?'

'Neo, I believe that you are the one, and I believe that you'll know what to do when the time comes, but until then you can only wait. We'll be returning to Zion once you've been to the Oracle's tomorrow, and when we're there, I'll show you the city, I'll show what you're fighting for, what you're going to save. You'll see al the people, the little kids, the orphans, your fellow soldiers, as well as the huge caves and the ways that we've lived since the beginning. You just wait, Neo, everything will become clear.'

'Thanks, Trinity, I'll see you tomorrow, I'm really tired now, and I should probably be getting back.'

'Yeah,' Trinity said, reaching up and kissing Neo's cheek before letting him leave the room. Neo was happy now, but Trinity couldn't feel the same. Something had been pulling at her heart for a week or so now, and she was afraid of what it was, she was afraid that this was love. She knew that she was meant to fall in love with the one, but Neo might not be the one, no matter how much she believed it. She didn't want her heart to be promised to another, it was him that she loved.

She was brought out of her thoughts by a siren and a red light on the wall flashing. Sentinels were approaching, and fast. She hurried up, shoving her boots on and leaving the room, rushing up to the cockpit were Morpheus was already waiting. She tapped in a few commands, bringing up the hologram, 'Morpheus, they're only five minutes away, can we land in that time?'

'I'm not sure, Trinity, we'll have to try,' her superior said, starting the decent to the bottom of the sewer pipe. Trinity picked up the handheld intercom as they landed, 'Tank, switch off the power and charge the EMP.'

'Yes, ma'am,' Tank replied, and started flicking the switches, turning off the lights, the heat and all other power. He turned the EMP, causing the signal upstairs to flash on "EMP armed". All was silent as the sound of the sentinels approaching faded in, becoming louder and louder. Trinity sat still, the intercom still in her hand as Morpheus pulled a black hat on. Her hands were trembling and she had a cold sweat on, but still she sat there, even though she felt physically sick.

Morpheus glanced at Trinity briefly, noting her reaction, but quickly turned back to look out the main window, the humming noise becoming louder as the sentinels zipped around the last few bends. They came into sight, radars out, tracking any nearby activity, sniffing out their prey like dogs. Trinity shuddered, sighing in relief as they disappeared as quickly as they had come. Trinity breathed into the intercom, 'disarm the EMP, Tank, it's all clear.'

The red light flicked off, showing that the EMP was no longer available for use. Trinity tried to stand up to leave, but her legs wouldn't let her, collapsing beneath her. She fell back into the chair, passing out. Morpheus looked to his side, seeing what had happened. He quickly took the intercom from her hand, instructing the rest of the crew downstairs, 'Tank, Dozer, Neo, meet me in the medical bay now.'

He did not see reason to panic over Trinity's state, but he was very concerned for her. This wasn't like her what so ever, and he needed a medical opinion over the matter, hence asking Dozer and Tank to join him. Choosing Neo to come along as well was merely to see his support for her. Though others saw Neo and Trinity as just good friends, Morpheus saw a spark there, he saw love and commitment, but fear to admit it.

He picked Trinity's limp for up in his arms, slowly and carefully making his way down the ladder to the main deck, and then along to the medical bay. Neo's face turned white as he saw Trinity being carried in unconscious. Morpheus lay her down on the table, telling the three other men, 'she looked ill and shaken as the sentinels approached and upon trying to stand up she collapsed, passing out.'

'Is her pulse strong?' Dozer asked.

'Yes, still as normal,' Tank replied, checking it against a timer.

'Is she still breathing?' the next question was posed.

'Yes, perfectly normally. I think this is just a black out, but I don't know why. Did she do anything that could have made her feel ill at all or dizzy?'

'Neo, you saw her last I believe,' Morpheus looked at Neo.

'She was fine when I last saw her, nothing wrong at all,' Neo said, the original shock wearing off slightly.

'Ok, Tank, Dozer, return to your quarters,' Morpheus told them, 'Neo, you can remain here.'

Once the two brothers had left the room, Morpheus walked over to the door, closing it with a quiet click, and then approached the table again. Neo had been starring at Trinity's soft pale face, but looked up at his captain once more as he returned.

Morpheus said slowly, thinking about his words carefully, 'you care for Trinity very much, don't you Neo?'

Neo nodded, eyes wide and alert from both tiredness and adrenaline. Morpheus continued, 'I've known Trinity for many years Neo, and she's always been a daughter to me. I can see when things are going on with her inside, with her emotions, with her mind. You and her are more than friends, aren't you?'

Neo looked to the floor, scared to admit it to Trinity's father figure, ashamed that he had found out before they had told anyone. He didn't need to answer as Trinity suddenly started coughing, sitting up, rubbing her head. She saw Neo first, and whispered, still dazed, 'Neo, what's happening?'

Morpheus said for Neo, 'you passed out and so I brought you here. I was just talking to Neo, but seeing as you're awake now, if you feel up to it then I'd like to talk to you both together.'

Trinity nodded, sitting up properly and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. Neo stood next to her, both of them watching Morpheus as he spoke, 'I have reason to believe that you are together in a relationship. I do not know how long for, or what stage you are at. I'd just like to say that I'm pleased for you if this is what you want, but I need to know for certain what is going on.'

Trinity sighed, and then started speaking, 'Neo and I are together, in a proper relationship. As you know, Morpheus, I'm not one to show my heart, but I trust Neo and I know that I need him.'

Morpheus and Trinity both looked at Neo, who spoke up, 'I don't know how serious Trinity believes this to be, but I find it very serious. I've never been in a proper relationship before, but I know that this is going to last. I…I love Trinity.' Trinity's eyes widened as Neo faced her, taking her hand, 'I love you, Trinity.'

Trinity squeezed his hand softly in hers, 'I love you too, Neo.' Their eyes locked and their hands held, but no more contact was possible at the moment. A long silence followed as the lovers were lost in each other's eyes.

Morpheus told Neo, 'Neo, let Trinity rest tonight, but please stay with her and look after her. I'm pleased that you have found each other, and no doubt you'll only need each other more tomorrow. I'll let you two decide on where things go from here, but if you ever need to talk to me or ask me anything you both know where I am.' He turned and left the room. They watched to see once he had gone, and then Trinity leaned forward, kissing Neo's lips gently, her tongue soon tracing along his bottom lip, sucking it into her mouth. Neo kissed her back, letting his tongue slip into her mouth, touching her tongue lightly and then drawing back into his own mouth. They both pulled back, breathing heavily as Trinity let herself drop onto her feet from where she had been sitting on the table.

Neo followed Trinity as they made their way back to her quarters. He sat on the edge of the bed while Trinity closed the door and then turned to face him. She approached him on the bed, taking off her boots and overtops, and then she sat next to him, waiting as he took off his own boots and tops. Trinity shivered slightly, so Neo rubbed her arms, warming her up. They climbed under the covers together, Neo spooning against Trinity, wrapping an arm over her waist, holding her close to him. Trinity placed a hand over his, holding him where he was, snuggling back slightly into his chest.

Neo whispered into the now dark room, 'I love you, Trinity.'

She returned with a small smile, 'I love you too, Neo.'

The next morning there was a loud knock on the door, waking both of them together. The door opened slowly, causing both of their hearts to start racing, only to find that it was Morpheus. He smiled upon seeing Neo and Trinity still curled up together like that, and then told them, 'you've overslept by about an hour, we're going up to broadcast depth soon so you need to get dressed and ready.'

'We'll be out in a minute,' Trinity said, sitting up more than she had been. Morpheus nodded and exited the room once more, closing the door again. Neo's lips brought Trinity back to their current situation, kissing the back of her neck. She sighed, relaxing again, breathing, 'love you.'

'Love you too,' Neo told her, sitting up properly, helping her up. They both got dressed, straightening out their clothes, and then they left the room together. Quickly, they went to the mess hall and ate their breakfast, and then headed to the core, where the rest of the crew minus Dozer and Cypher were. Morpheus greeted them, 'I'm glad you chose to join us. Now, we need to show you the plan for today's mission.'

Neo and Trinity were led to the screens where Tank was sitting. Morpheus stood with them, pointing out the route. He ended by saying to Neo, 'I know you can't read the codes yet so if you stick with Trinity…'

'I can read the codes,' Neo said quietly, looking up to meet his mentor's eyes. Tank turned in his chair to face Neo, while Trinity stood still, eyes glazed over in thought. Tank said, 'but you haven't had the codes uploaded yet, and even with that it would take you at least a month or more to get a grip of it.'

'Tank's right, Neo,' Morpheus said, 'how can you read it? Have you been able to read it before?'

'No,' Neo admitted, 'I'm not sure what's going on; I haven't understood any of it before.'

'Has anything happened since you left your post last night?' Morpheus questioned.

'Well yes, but only what you saw when we were in the medical bay last night.'

'We'll have to consult the oracle over this; it's a good thing we're going to day after all.'

The intercom started talking, Dozer saying that they had reached broadcasting depth and that they were about to land. Tank replied to his brother, saying that he understood his message. Everyone held onto something as there was a huge shudder throughout the ship as it touched down. Morpheus called everyone together, briefing them again quickly, and then told Trinity, 'look after Neo and make sure he's plugged in safely. Get him to relax first though; else he'll hurt himself again.'

Trinity nodded and led Neo over to his chair, waiting as he sat back slowly, getting comfortable. Trinity strapped him in, noticing that he was watching her intensely. Holding his forehead back, stroking his soft fuzz of hair first, but so that no one else would notice, and then she gently inserted the plug. She check over to see what others were doing, seeing that Apoc and Switch were already plugged in, Dozer and Cypher had returned from the cockpit, and Mouse was just about to be plugged in by Tank. Morpheus came over to Trinity, telling her, 'I'll be inside in a minute, you keep them in order, collect your guns and get ready.'

Trinity sat back in her own chair, 'yes sir.' Morpheus plugged her in, sending her into the construct. There were shelves of guns reaching to infinity, and through one of the shelves she could see everyone else on the other side. Realizing that the only way to get to them was over the top, Trinity performed a version of her famous levitating scorpion kick, jumping over the top of the stack, landing her next to the others. She was wearing her classic knee-length black long sleeved dress, along with her customary sunglasses. Trinity instructed them, 'get your guns and get ready, we want this to run smooth and quick so no time for shit.' She reached for a couple of hand guns, placing one on a holster on her leg just under her skirt and the other on her inbuilt hip holster on the dress. Neo watched her as the others picked up their own guns. Trinity told him, 'Neo, you don't need any, just stick close and keep safe.'

He nodded, feeling secure around Trinity, but fear still crept into his expression, all this still new to him. Trinity slipped her glasses off for a few moments, letting Neo see her ice blue eyes, bringing the flame of safety back to him. Cypher arrived, soon followed by Morpheus. Cypher grabbed his guns quickly, while Morpheus on the other hand remained unarmed.

Morpheus looked around at every person, checking that everyone was armed and ready, and then said, 'we'll arrive a few blocks away to avoid the agents, Cypher and Trinity will accompany me to the oracle's with Neo, and then we want to get back as quickly as possible. Anyone have any problems?'

No one replied, so Morpheus called up to the whiteness, 'Tank, load us up.'

The white around them filled with stacks of guns quickly disappeared, bringing them all into a hotel room, the landline phone ringing. Morpheus nodded at Trinity, who answered it, her soft tone stating clearly, 'we're in.'

Straight away they got to work, lead out of the building by their captain, brought up at the end by their second in command. Upon reaching the car waiting outside for them, Apoc, Switch and Mouse remained by the outside wall, while Cypher climbed into the driving seat, Morpheus into the front passenger seat, and Neo and Trinity into the back. Neo reached to pull his seatbelt on, but hesitated once seeing that no one else strapped themselves in. Trinity looked at him through her dark glasses, 'we normally wait until we've traveled a distance sure enough to be safe, incase there are agents and we need to bail out.'

Neo nodded, dropping his hand that had been holding the seat belt, placing it in his lap with the other. Sure enough, once they had traveled for a few minutes and they were in no trouble, everyone reached for their seatbelts, pulling them on, and Neo followed suit. Staring out of the window, Neo saw places he used to know, his beloved noodle bar, his local shop, his old office building and so many streets he had walked down. Trinity whispered, 'it's amazing, isn't it?'

'Why do we look at it in code when we're in the matrix, I've never seen it like this before, like when I was living here?' Neo questioned. Trinity looked puzzled and Morpheus turned around slowly, slipping off his glasses and staring for a minute at Neo, eventually Trinity told him, 'we don't see the code when we're inside.'

'But…' Neo started.

'Neo, are you reading this like you were back on the screens?' Morpheus asked, continuing after Neo's nod, 'can you stop reading it like this, focus Neo.'

Closing his eyes, Neo reached what felt to be a trancelike state, and then reopened his eyes, looking around and seeing the world as everyone else saw it. Upon Morpheus' questioning look, Neo told them, 'I can see normally now.'

Trinity and Morpheus exchanged meaningful glances, before Morpheus stated, 'we're almost there.' Neo remained lost, lacking in understanding of what was happening. Trinity tried to reassure him, 'it's fine, Neo, don't worry.' Neo tried to believe her, but he knew that there was something different about him. He'd been told by almost the entire crew that he was the one, and many other people believed it too. He didn't know what he believed, and he wished he knew what the woman he loved believed.

Arriving at the block of flats where the oracle lived, they got out of the car. Cypher waited, leaning back against the wall in front of the car, while Morpheus said, 'Trinity, I want you to join us.'

Trinity hadn't expected this, usually only Morpheus went with the newbies to see the oracle, but now it was obvious to her that this was different. She accepted Morpheus' instruction, and followed her love and her captain into the old building. They went up in the lift, soaring up slowly, with each floor that passed a little "ding" sound came from a bell. Stepping out of the elevator, Neo's wide eyes grew even wider, his pupils expanding to capture the little light that existed along the small corridor. Morpheus led the way, Trinity only half a step behind him, Neo last in line. The door ahead of them opened, the priestess beckoning them in. She told Morpheus where he could wait, and took Neo and Trinity through to the living room. Trinity was soon informed to go speak with the oracle while Neo stayed in the homey carpeted room.

Trinity stood in the door way, waiting as the oracle placed a new batch of cookies on the table. Trinity eventually said, 'you wanted to see me?' prompting an explanation from the old woman. The oracle looked up at the strong figure that stood before her, and said, 'take you sunglasses off, honey, and take a seat.'

Trinity obliged by removing her glasses, but still she stood in front of the elderly lady, not wishing to obey by one hundred percent. The oracle sighed, saying, 'you never wanted to conform, did you, Trinity?' after waiting for a couple of seconds she continued, 'you can have it your way and stand, or you could take the seat offered, you may want to sit in a minute anyway.'

Trinity sat down at the table, placing her glasses down as well. She asked, 'why did you want to speak to me?'

'Trinity, you know something important, you know what you're heart feels and you know that Neo is going to be the one…'

'What do you mean "going to be" he already is; I love him,' Trinity interrupted.

'Child, you may have told him that you love him, but that doesn't truly mean it, only your heart can say. Love is something special that your words can't express, and you'll feel that connection with the one when the time has come.'

'But I know that I love him, I know that he loves me.'

'Prove it to him, prove it to yourself. How can you be so sure that he's the one, how do you know that this is real love, how do you know that he loves you back?'

Trinity paused, unable to answer for she didn't know what to say. The oracle was right, what if Neo wasn't the one, but she just fancied him, her heart would have been wasted on him. But Trinity knew that Neo was the one, even the oracle said that he would be, but Trinity had to prove her love, though she didn't know how. Her eyes flickered down to the table, waiting there for a moment, and then looked back up to the oracle, 'how can I prove my love?''

'I don't know, honey, that's up to you, save his life maybe…'

Just then they were interrupted by the priestess coming into the kitchen with Neo, and then she left. Neo stood there looking around for a moment. The oracle stood up, saying, 'hello, Neo, I'm -as you may have guessed- the oracle. Let's take a look at you.'

She examined Neo, moving his head from side to side, getting him to say "ah", and then she took his hands, holding them out in front of him. She looked at his hands, telling him as she did, 'you're cuter than I thought you'd be. I can see why she likes you.'

Neo blushed, and Trinity turned around to see his reaction. Neo saw the fear in her eyes at that moment, and wanted nothing more than to comfort her and find out the problem, but he couldn't. The oracle continued to stare at his hands before saying, 'this is certainly interesting.'

'What is?' Neo asked.

Dropping Neo's hands, the oracle posed the question to him, 'do you believe you are the one?'

'To be honest, I really don't know,' Neo admitted, seeing Trinity turning back and looking down at the table.

The oracle spoke once more, 'Know thy self.'

* * *

Please review! I hope you liked my first attempt.


	2. chapter 2

'I can't believe it,' Trinity muttered as she followed Neo out of the Oracle's apartment, meeting Morpheus just outside the door. Neo's head was hung, not saying a thing, too afraid, too disappointed, too ashamed. Just from once glance at him you could tell the news he had just received. Morpheus' face dropped as he saw Neo and Trinity approaching, Trinity looked as if she were in some sort of trance, just like the first time she had ever been to the Oracle's.

'No,' Morpheus said quietly, shaking his head slowly, 'no, it can't be.'

'I'm not the one,' Neo whispered, he ran one hand through his hair, and then looked up, telling his mentor, 'I knew I wasn't.'

It was a shock to all of them, especially Trinity though; she had risked the most out of anyone. She had put her heart out to this man, she had given up her reputation, she had given up her principles, she had been prepared to do anything for Neo, and now it was for nothing, she was meant to love the one, not Neo.

Trinity pushed past the two men, starting by walking quickly, but soon running off down the corridor, heading to the stairs, and then down them, two at a time, rushing to get away from it all. This couldn't be happening to her, it wasn't fair.

Morpheus' concerned turned to Trinity, as had Neo's. Morpheus said, 'follow her and talk to her, Neo, I'll phone Tank and the others; we must get back quickly.'

'Ok,' Neo said running after Trinity, following her exact route, chasing her down the flights of stairs, calling after her, 'Trinity, wait.'

Trinity didn't stop though, she kept going, running out of the front of the building, needing to get away from everything, but she didn't know where to go, there was no where safe tat she could get to, apart from the Nebuchadnezzar.

Tank was talking to Morpheus, tracking Trinity while he spoke, 'I've found her, sir, Neo's coming after her, but she's still on the move. I don't know what she's planning on doing, but I'm receiving a call from her.'

'Answer it and then tell me,' Morpheus instructed.

'Yes, sir,' Tank said, putting Morpheus' call on hold, and then answering Trinity's call, 'Operator.'

'Tank, I need an exit,' Trinity said, her voice wavering before she recovered again.

'Trinity, Neo's not far behind you, you can both get to Blacks and Greens and I'll have a call waiting there for you.'

'I'm not waiting, just get me out, that's an order.'

'But, Trinity…'

'Tank, I'm going to this exit and I want it to be ready be the time I'm there, is that understood?' Trinity spoke wit authority.

'Yes, ma'am,' Tank sighed, shutting off her call. He switched back to Morpheus, 'sir, she's heading to an exit now but won't wait for Neo. Neo doesn't have a phone so I can't contact him.'

'Don't worry, just keep an eye on them both, hopefully Neo will follow her all the way to the exit and get out. Cypher and I'll drive to the exit anyway. Call Apoc and tell them to go back to the hotel room and leave immediately,' Morpheus instructed.

'Ok, I'm working on it,' Tank said, switching off this call as well. He dialled Apoc's mobile and passed on the information, and soon three of the crew were back on board the Nebuchadnezzar. Switch asked, 'what's happened? Why didn't we stick to the original plan?'

'I'm not sure yet, but after leaving the oracle's Trinity ran away from Neo and Morpheus, Neo headed after her and is still following her as she heads to an exit. Morpheus told me to get everyone out and keep an eye on Neo and Trinity,' Tank explained in an absent minded manor as he tapped commands into several of the keyboards, bringing up more information on the screens. He hit the dial button as Trinity rounded the last corner to the pay phone by Blacks and Greens. She picked it up inside the matrix and quickly awoke on the Neb. Dozer unplugged her and helped her out of her seat, and then she disappeared, hurrying off through the ship.

'What's the matter with her?' Apoc queried, staring after their second in command.

'I'm not sure about that either, but it looks like it's related to why she ran off earlier at the oracle's apartment. She was called in to speak to the oracle as well as Neo, they were there together, but I'm not sure why or exactly what's happened,' Tank replied, brining up the view of Neo, who was racing down the last street to Blacks and Greens.

Neo wandered over to the pay phone, pretty sure that Trinity, who was no where to be seen, had returned to the ship. He had never been pulled out of the matrix before, but it was likely that phones were the answer. He replaced the phone on its hook and suddenly it started ringing. He answered it, discovering his theory had been correct as he opened his eyes on the Neb.

Tank phoned Morpheus, who was heading to the same exit with Cypher, having opted to take the car as far as they could before getting out and walking the rest of the way. Tank told their captain, 'both Neo and Trinity are back on board, sir, but Trinity has disappeared to a different area of the ship. I have the exit waiting for you and Cypher when you are ready.'

'Thank you, Tank, we'll be there within two minutes. Keep Neo in the core and do not send anyone else after Trinity,' Morpheus told the operator just before hanging up. He put his phone back in his pocket as the car pulled up by an alley way. Both he and Cypher climbed out, and Morpheus led them down the narrow street to the phone. He put the phone on the hook and spoke to Cypher as it started ringing, 'take the first call.'

Cypher nodded, picking up the phone; Morpheus watched as his coding disappeared into the phone, and then replaced the phone once more. It rand immediately and he answered it, returning to the Neb as well, the last member of the crew to go back. Dozer unplugged Morpheus as well, helping him up, and then saying, 'everyone's back fine but we've still not heard from Trinity.'

'Neo, come with me,' Morpheus said, 'everyone else is to resume duties until otherwise instructed by either myself or Trinity.'

Everyone showed their understanding and agreement in the form of a nod, and Neo followed Morpheus out of the core and along the corridor leading to the quarters. He told Neo on the way, 'I need you to talk to Trinity once we find her, this has been a shock for her and no doubt she'll be upset.'

'Why though? Just because the oracle said I'm not the one…' Neo trailed off towards the end.

'She's never spoken to you about her prophesy, has she?' Morpheus asked, stopping in his tracks causing Neo to stop as well.

Neo shook his head, 'no, she tried but she never could say. I didn't pressure her because I didn't want to make her say anything she didn't want to say.'

'Neo, do you mind me asking you just how far in your relationship you and Trinity are?'

Neo replied slowly, 'I think the only way I can really put it is that we're like best friends in love. I respect Trinity in every way possible, so we each let things happen as they happen and don't pressure each other.'

'Have you had a…physical relationship so far?'

Neo blushed, looking down at the floor and then replying as his eyes raised again, 'we've not had sex yet, but we've spent nights together just chatting or kissing. We've never seen each other properly; it just doesn't seem right at the moment. We've shared a bed though, still clothed.'

Morpheus nodded, starting to walk again, 'that's all I needed to hear, Neo, thank you.'

They approached Trinity's cabin, and Morpheus reached out to knock on the door. There was no reply, so Morpheus said through the metal, 'Trinity, if you are in here, please can you just say. You don't have to come out or talk yet if you don't want to. We just need to know that you're safe.'

'I'm fine,' Trinity said calmly in response to Morpheus' request.

'Do you want to talk to anyone? Neo's here if you want to chat to him, or you can always talk to me.'

'I'm fine,' Trinity repeated, and then continued, 'just leave me alone.'

Though Trinity had persisted that she was fine, upon seeing her it was a completely different matter. Trinity had returned to her quarters with the intention of simply spending time on her own to sort out her mind, she would talk later, but not then. She had opened the door, then closed it, and then once more the feeling of light headedness and a queasy stomach had hit her. She fell to the floor, passing out, knocking her head as she fell, her wrist snapping in an attempt to break her fall. She recovered a few minutes later. Her wrist was extremely painful and looked very bad, and her head was bleeding lightly. She winced as she snapped her wrist back into a more natural position and then bound it with a piece of torn clothe. She found another piece of old material and applied pressure to the cut on her head using her non injured hand. She should have gone to the medical bay or got help, but she hadn't had time to let everything sink in yet. She couldn't be seen as weak on top of everything that was already going on in her mind. If she kept passing out for no cause of her own others might think that she was unable to work properly any more or not fit to go into the matrix or construct. She was stronger than that, she could look after herself. The cut on her head was only small and soon clotted, but she didn't dare wash it in case it caused further damage. She didn't move off the floor for fear of hurting her wrist even more, and she tried to keep her voice as calm as possible as Morpheus spoke to her and she replied.

On the other side of the door, Neo wasn't sure that Trinity was ok, something didn't sound right. Morpheus turned to leave, but Neo quickly stopped him, 'wait.'

Morpheus turned back, looking at Neo questioningly. Neo moved forward and opened the door to Trinity's cabin. Morpheus remained in the doorway as Neo quickly went in to see if Trinity was ok. 'Shit, Trinity, what happened?' Neo muttered, seeing the mess her hair was in and noticing her wrist. Her looked at her head, seeing blood there, just as Trinity replied, 'nothing, I'm fine.'

'Trinity, your head's bleeding and your wrist is broken. You're not ok, come on, we need to get you sorted out,' Neo said, helping her up, supporting all of her weight.

Trinity was close to tears, but she wouldn't let herself sink that low, she whispered, 'it hurts, Neo, just leave me alone.'

'No, you can't be left alone when you're like this,' Neo said, and then turned to Morpheus, who told him, 'take her straight to the medical bay and take the bandage off her wrist, we may have to operate, and we'll certainly have to clean up her head. I'll get Tank and Mouse and we'll be there shortly.'

Neo nodded, helping Trinity to walk along to the medical bay. She said once he had helped her up onto the bed, 'why'd you have to do this? I was fine.'

'Trinity, you're not fine. You can't just run away from injury. If I hadn't come in you wouldn't have told anyone and eventually you would have blocked the door from being opened, who knows what could have happened to you,' Neo said, looking down into her eyes.

'I would have been fine,' Trinity spat out as Morpheus, Tank and Mouse entered.

Tank helped Trinity to sit up, telling Mouse, 'do you want to start you miracle healing on her head injury, and then we can check out this wrist. Neo, can you take the bandage off.'

As Mouse got a small bowl of water and some alcohol, Neo started to unwrap the cloth from Trinity's wrist, slowly revealing the smashed up mess. Neo's eyes locked with Trinity's as he held the delicate joint in his hand. Trinity turned her eyes away, tears welling in the corner before she blinked them away. Neo wasn't sure whether the tears were out of pain, whether she was cross with him, or if she was upset about what had happened in the matrix. He knew it must have been serious though; Trinity never cried, he had never seen he cry throughout all the time he had been free, and he knew that no one else had ever seen her cry, it was just something that she didn't do.

Mouse cleaned the wound and applied the alcohol, causing Trinity to wince slightly. Once he was finished with that, Tank checked Trinity's wrist, assessing how much damage had been caused. He consulted Morpheus, and they decided that she would have to be operated on in order for the bone to fix in a natural position. Neo watched as Trinity was put under anaesthetic and her wrist was corrected. It was painful to see, but he wanted to be with her. Morpheus didn't bother suggesting that he left the room, knowing that really Neo felt obliged to stay and that he'd never leave her side.

After the operation as completed, Trinity's wrist was put in a cast and her arm into a sling as she slowly awakened from the anaesthetic. She remained in the medical bay to rest, seeing as she was still drowsy. Morpheus stayed with her and Neo, asking her, 'how did this happen?'

Trinity was very reluctant to answer, but eventually replied, 'I passed out after returning to my quarters and I fell over, hitting my head. I tried to break my fall but ended up crushing my wrist.'

'Do you know why you've been passing out? Could it be related to anything?' Morpheus further questioned.

Trinity shook her head, saying quietly, 'it's at random.'

'Ok, well you're going to have to rest for a few days until you can have your arm taken out of its sling, but it'll be a couple of months until your wrist is fully healed.'

'What about my duties?' Trinity asked, 'I'll still be able to go into the matrix, won't I?'

'Maybe not the matrix, but you can go into the construct after a while. Trinity, you have to understand that you are injured, and while you are injured you have to concentrate on getting better.'

'No, I should be able to continue as normal, it's my own bloody fault that I hurt myself, it's out of my weakness that I passed out so I should push myself further to be stronger.'

'You may feel that way now, but soon you'll see that it's not your fault, you couldn't prevent your black out, and now you just need to rest. I'll leave you with Neo for now.' Morpheus left the room. Neo sat in the chair next to Trinity's bed, taking her non-hurt hand in his, kissing her knuckles, before she drifted off to sleep.

Unlike most people, Trinity found it surprisingly easy to think while she was asleep, so she used this to her advantage, taking this time to be on her own and to contemplate. The oracle had told her that she'd fall in love with the one, but she had fallen in love with Neo. The oracle had also said that Neo was going to be the one, but he wasn't already, because they didn't have the connection of love. This was something that she felt though; she knew that words couldn't express what she felt, so why wasn't he the one now. The oracle had very clearly told Neo that he wasn't the one; she said that he had the ability and the talent, but he wasn't ready for it, maybe in another life though. The two things clicked together in her mind, another life- save his life. Neo was going to die. That was it. Neo wasn't the one, she had fallen in love with the wrong person, but he was going to die and she was going to have to save him in order to fulfil the prophesy.

She sat up in the dark, sprung from her thoughts into reality, covered in cold sweat. She looked around the darkness, letting her eyes adjust to the light. She could now see that she was in her own quarters, having obviously been moved. Neo was sat in the chair next to her bed, asleep himself. She relaxed, falling back onto the cot, resting her head on the pillow, falling back to sleep, this time dreaming though. She saw Neo; she saw how hurt he looked when she tried to refuse his help, when she ran away from him, whenever she had hurt him in the past. He had always remained by her side, loyal to her, giving her the space she needed, understanding of her, and being a best friend whenever she most needed him. He was there for her no matter what. Maybe that's what the oracle meant as well. He still loved her even though she was always taking but not giving. Neo had still found it within his heart to look after her and fall in love with her. He needed her as much as she needed him, but slowly the pressure was building on his shoulders. Again and again she refused his help, she made him feel unimportant, inferior at times, and she didn't show how much she truly loved him. Could he have just said that he loved her when he didn't really mean it, could he have been saying it to give her more and to let her take it. Could this be a lie?

Neo woke in the morning as the lights flickered on throughout the ship. He looked down upon the face of Trinity, seeing tears slowly rolling down her cheeks as she slept. She cried as she slept now, unable to hide her true feelings. He sat on the edge of her bed, wiping the tears off her face gently, and then kissed her forehead, watching her for a few minutes, before pulling on his tops and boots and then leaving the room, glancing back at her once more. He headed straight through to the mess hall, meeting his captain there, who asked, 'how's Trinity?'

Neo paused before saying, 'she's fine.'

Morpheus nodded before turning back to his food, finishing the last of his goop. Neo picked up a tray, filling it with goop from the dispenser, grabbed a spork and then sat down opposite his captain. Morpheus, once finishing, stood up, taking his spork and tray to the sink and then returned to sit back in front of Neo. He told the latest member of the crew, 'Neo, no matter what the oracle said, I still believe in you.'

'But…' Neo started.

'She can't tell who you are or who you're going to be, only point you in the right direction, you have to choose the right path and take it. I'll see you in the core in a maximum of fifteen minutes to start some training.'

Neo nodded, and then watched as Morpheus left the mess hall, greeting Tank and Mouse on their way in. Mouse and Tank both grabbed their own tray of food and sat opposite Neo, Tank asking, 'is Trinity ok?'

'Yes,' Neo said, and then added, 'thank you for helping her yesterday.'

'Hey, it's all part of our job,' Tank beamed, 'I'm just glad you found her, she didn't look like she was willing to go to the medical bay herself.'

Neo nodded, and then asked, 'do you know what could be causing Trinity to pass out like that; it's happened twice now?'

'Sorry, no idea,' Tank admitted, 'usually it would be down to a bump on the head or a fever or something, but nothing like that has happened to Trinity to start that off.'

Mouse suggested, 'maybe it's a kind of bug, like the ones computers can get.'

'But Trinity isn't a computer and she isn't jacked in, so how can that work?' Tank asked.

'Well, when you're inside the matrix you're able to have your codes screwed with by viruses and bugs, so maybe that happened to Trinity and that has been carried over into her body when coming out of the matrix, causing these black outs,' Mouse explained.

'How likely is that, and how serious?' Neo queried, not having any experience with these kinds of topics.

'It's extremely rare for it to affect a human who can jack in or out, and it's near to impossible for it to affect them outside of the matrix. If it has happened then it's not too serious; we can just load the person up into a medical clean out in the construct program. We can perform a simple virus/bug check and clear out. It only takes about half an hour,' Mouse told Neo.

'Is it worth checking then?'

'Ask Morpheus, it would be his decision overall,' Tank said. Neo ate the last mouthful of the goop he was just beginning to get used to, and then placed the spork and tray in the sink. He poured a new lot of goop and grabbed a clean spork, telling the other two men in the room, 'I'll take Trinity some food for when she wakes up.'

'Good idea,' Tank said as Neo left the room.

Neo carried the food along to Trinity's quarters, passing Cypher on the way, who also inquired about Trinity after greeting Neo. Neo entered her room, seeing that she was still asleep, and then placed the food on top of her side board where she would see it but wouldn't knock it over. He stroked her hair quickly, and then headed out to the core. Morpheus was waiting there, selecting a couple of disks ready for training. He asked Neo, 'have you had the manual tasks uploaded yet?'

'No, Tank chose not to do those first,' Neo told his superior.

'Ok, well we'll start with that and then a quick fight in the spar program,' Morpheus said.

Before moving over to his chair, Neo asked Morpheus, 'is it worth running a virus/bug check on Trinity to see if there's any possibility that she's passing out because of a copied hitch in the matrix?'

'When she's up and moving again we'll try it, we don't want her hurting herself again,' Morpheus said as Neo sat back in his chair. Morpheus came over, strapping Neo in and carefully inserting the plug. He hit load on the computer, starting up the session. Within half an hour, everything was loaded up. When Neo opened his eyes, Morpheus was no longer there, instead it was Tank, who congratulated him, 'well done, Neo, that's another for the Zion record books. All manual tasks uploaded in half an hour. It takes an average person about three hours for all that information to process.'

Neo didn't know how to respond to Tank's cheery remark, so he remained silent until Morpheus returned, merely excepting that he was able to do these amazing things. He and Morpheus were plugged in and inserted in the spar program in the construct. Rather than a real fight, Neo found beating Morpheus surprisingly easy, not having to work at all, he was testing his powers more than anything, powers that he thought he ought not to have. Morpheus said after being beaten for the third time in row, 'see, Neo, you are not an ordinary guy. You are the one.'

Neo sat down on the mats sighing heavily, letting himself lay back, staring up at the ceiling. He spoke after a minute or so of thinking through what to say, 'everyone still thinks I'm the one, I have all these abilities, I'm able to do more than the average guy, but really that's all I am. I'm Neo, not the one. I'm no different from anyone. Even the oracle said so.'

'Did she really tell you straight that you are not the one?' Morpheus pushed.

Neo thought for a moment, running her words through his head "Know thy self. Neo, you have the ability and you have the talent, but…" that's where Neo interrupted her, "I'm not the one" the oracle apologised "I'm sorry kid, maybe in a next life".

He told Morpheus, 'No, she didn't, it was more like a riddle. I know there's something I'm missing in what she said, but I don't know what.'

'No one can tell you your path Neo, as I've said before, it's up to you who you are. Tank, bring us out,' Morpheus said loudly, before he awoke on the Neb. Neo, however, did not sit up awake on the Nebuchadnezzar; there was a fault, he was sent straight catapulting into the matrix.

Trinity, who was stood by the screens, watching the dripping codes which resembled either blood or rain, she hadn't decided yet, saw Neo appear before her eyes, and was quick to ask, 'what's going on?'

'What is it?' Morpheus asked, noticing Neo hadn't woken up next to him.'

'Neo's been sent into the matrix somehow…God, it's a trap,' Trinity muttered the last bit.

Morpheus and Tank rushed to the screens, Tank taking the operators chair while Morpheus stood. They could see at least four agents approaching the figure of Neo in the matrix. Trinity was quick to react, pushing back and moving swiftly to her chair. She sat down, telling Morpheus, 'I'm going in. Don't argue with me now, he's in trouble and I'm going to help him.'

Morpheus took one look and saw the determination and love in his daughter's eyes, and was quick to plug her in, setting up her screen, and then having her sent in. In the construct she quickly collected her guns, placing one in either holster, each with unlimited ammo. She was wearing her black tank top, her tight black latex pants, her usual sunglasses and her black boots, her hair gelled back like normal under her crash helmet. She checked her arm, seeing that by changing her RSI it was currently fixed, but she knew that if she injured it further in here it would only get worse back there. A black Ducati appeared at her side, which she quickly mounted as she appeared in the matrix, racing to Neo's location. She parked up just less than a block away, pulling her helmet off and picking up her phone, dialling Tank, 'I'm in.'

'Good luck,' Tank said just before she hung up. Pulling out her guns she ran towards the scene in front of her, she saw that Neo was swiftly dodging all the bullets. A couple of guns appeared before Neo, who was fast to pick them up and start shooting at the agents. Trinity joined him, shooting as well. Neo asked as they fought, 'what's going on?'

'It's a trap,' Trinity told him, just as she managed to hold an agent long enough to shoot him through the head. The task was difficult, and the odds were against them massively. Trinity led Neo through back as quickly as they could, heading to the bike while still shooting at the agents. Trinity got Neo to climb onto the bike and start it up as she continued to shoot at the agents. Then she jumped on the bike and floored it, Neo's arms wrapping tightly around her waist. When they got off, Trinity phoned Tank, saying, 'we need an exit and fast.'

'Spills repairs about two blocks from you, but the agents are hot after you,' Tank said.

'I know,' Trinity said just as agents appeared, taking over peoples' bodies. Trinity started shooting again, as did Neo; with the combination of both guns they managed to shoot one of the agents down, leaving only two to chase them. Hanging up the phone and getting back on the bike, Trinity and Neo sped away to the exit. Upon arrival, Neo made Trinity take the first phone call, just as an agent rounded the corner and shot at Neo. Trinity dropped the phone before she could be transported away, grabbing her guns and shooting down the agent. Trinity could see Neo falling to the floor as the fourth agent entered. Trinity's pure hatred for the agents and ultimate concern for Neo gave her the power to kill the last agent. She dropped her gun, falling to her knees next to Neo. She started to cry, sobbing over Neo's body, blood stains from his pierced heart on his shirt. She never expected to ever cry like this, but after all she had realized, about how badly she had been treating Neo after he had been only kind to her ever, she never had time to apologise him, to let him give her a second chance. Her world felt like it was at an end as the rivers flowed out of her eyes, every tear in her body surging out after all the ears of blocking of emotions.

'No, Neo, no, you can't be dead,' Trinity cried, her head resting against his chest, 'I love you too much. The oracle told me I'd fall in love with the one, Neo, so you have to be the one, you can't be dead, because I love you.' She kissed his lips sweetly, and pulled back, more tears streaming down her pale face. Neo gasped, his eyes flicking open. He saw Trinity crying by his side, and sat up, trying to calm her, 'shush, Trin, I'm here.'

Trinity cried even harder, clutching to Neo, saying everything quickly, 'it thought I'd lost you, I thought you were dead, I love you so much, don't die Neo, don't leave me again, I need you.'

Neo kissed her lips passionately focussing her attention on that; he was alive and with her again and he wasn't going to leave.


	3. chapter 3

Ok, this contains a sex scene, but it's moderately mild to what I've previously written. If this kind of stuff offends anyone in anyway I've given you the heads up, so please don't get cross with me. I'll mark the sex area with lines so you can skip it if you so wish. Not my best work, but I hope you still enjoy. xxx

* * *

The experience was a complete shock to Neo, all of a sudden Trinity was apologising for everything she had ever done, crying over him, desperate to get his approval. He wasn't sure whether this could even be the real Trinity because she was so emotional, but he guessed after all the years of holding back and locking herself up inside everything had boiled over and released at once. He kissed the top of her head, holding her in his arms. As her breathing settled and it seemed that she had cried all that she could, Neo helped Trinity up, replacing the phone on the hook and then handing it to her as it began to ring. He kept her mobile though, and instead of answering the phone himself when it rang for a second time, he dialled the number for the operating station, telling Tank that he'd phone when he wanted an exit.

Although Neo wanted nothing more than to return home to Trinity, he felt like he had to check that he was the one. He exited the shop out into the empty street, and then with a sudden surge of power he took flight. He shifted his vision so that he could see the codes, but now it was different; he could mould the code, change it and shape it however he wanted. It made him wonder…

High above the clouds Neo pulled out Trinity's phone again, 'Tank, can you bring me into the construct and send Trinity in.'

'Sure thing, but how the hell can you do this shit!' Tank exclaimed.

'Because of Trinity,' Neo admitted as the sky turned to white ground in the construct. Trinity appeared next to him, turning and hugging him tightly, minding her broken wrist that she had not chosen to fix. Neo gently took her arm, the one that was broken, and held it out in front of her. He asked her, 'will you let me fix it?'

Trinity nodded, unsure of what was going to happen. Staying in the coding view, Neo used his hands to gently unwind Trinity's code in her wrist, and then put it back together, instantly healing her. She kept her eyes closed as the process was in place, seeing her arm being pulled apart but not feeling anything. By the time Neo had finished it was as good as before her fall.

'Is it ok?' Neo asked Trinity.

Trinity nodded, gazing into Neo's eyes, tears brimming in her own again. Neo saw this and said, 'maybe we should go home.'

Trinity agreed, saying, 'Tank, bring us out.'

Morpheus unplugged Neo while Dozer unplugged Trinity. Although the entire rest of the crew were in the same room, watching them, Neo and Trinity kissed slowly, keeping it as tasteful as possible. When they pulled back, they came back together in an embrace, hugging each other tightly. Neo whispered, 'I love you, Trinity.'

'I love you too,' Trinity breathed back, still clinging to Neo.

'Neo, Trinity, please come with me,' Morpheus said, leading them through to the medical bay. He closed the door after them, letting Neo and Trinity both sit up on one of the tables. He stood before them, asking Neo first, 'where were you shot?'

'My heart,' Neo said.

'We need to check that you haven't done any internal damage, so can you please remove your tops.'

Neo slowly peeled his tops off; taking care not to harm the cut that he knew was there. Trinity moved off the bed and helped Neo to lie back, setting up the x-ray equipment for Morpheus. The results showed that there was no real damage, and the small gash on Neo's chest was the only evidence of his injury. Amazingly he had healed when inside the matrix, just like he had been able to heal Trinity. Once finished examining and cleaning up Neo, Trinity sat back on the table next to him. She grabbed a knife that was on one of the trays near the bed, and carefully cut off her cast. Morpheus x-rayed her wrist as well, finding that she too as fully healed.

'I don't know how you did it Neo, I don't know if you know yet, but you are the one. No matter what the oracle has said to you, this is your destiny,' Morpheus said, and then allowed a smile to grace his face as he said, 'I'll make sure no one disturbs you two tonight, as I have a feeling that you'll be fulfilling another destiny.' He left the room, leaving Neo and Trinity sitting awkwardly together, Neo's face flooded red.

Trinity said slowly, 'do you want to come back to my quarters?'

'Sure,' Neo smiled, picking up his tops as he followed her out and along the corridors to her quarters. There were no locks in any of the rooms on board the ship, but Trinity managed to wedge her chair under the wheel of the door, keeping it safely closed. Neo dropped his tops into a pile on the floor, sitting on the bed next to Trinity, unbuckling his boots. He noticed that Trinity had made no effort to undo her own boots, so he leaned down and unbuckled hers as well, slipping them off of her small feet.

He placed a delicate kiss on her cheek as he sat back up, telling her, 'we don't have to do anything if you don't want.'

Trinity gave him a look as if he was insane, replying, 'Neo, I love you and I'm ready, if you are…'

'Yeah, I just don't want to pressure you into anything, I mean, it has been an emotional day for both of us.'

'Neo, can we talk for a bit?' Trinity pulled her legs up, folding them underneath herself. She stretched her arms, laying her hands flat out in front of her.

'Of course,' Neo replied, turning to sit cross legged opposite her on the bed. He asked her, 'what is it?' taking her hands in his.

Trinity breathed heavily, and then told him, 'for the past four months or so we've been in a relationship, but you've always given and I've always taken…'

Neo could see that this was hard for Trinity, so he quickly stopped her, 'Trinity, I know, I know now everything you've been going through, and I love you even more now. I didn't know you were going through much inside, but I don't care about any of that now. You saved my life, Trinity, and I couldn't love you more if I tried…'

* * *

Trinity cut Neo off this time, kissing him passionately, kneeling over his legs so she could reach him with more ease. Her fingers ran up his spine, over the harsh cold metal plugs of his back, leaving trails of warmth. Neo placed his hands on Trinity's waist under her tops, massaging her gently.

As they drew back from the kiss, a strand of saliva still joining their lips, Trinity leaned in again, placing a gentle kiss on the corner of his mouth, licking up the saliva. Neo lay back, bringing Trinity forward to sit on his waist, just over his hips. She shifted slightly to get more comfortable, smiling when accidentally rubbing Neo and causing him to emit a soft moan. Her fingers traced the smooth curves of his muscular chest, stopping just as she reached the gash over his heart. She bent over, kissing the small wound, laving it with her tongue. Neo gasped, making Trinity look up into his eyes from her bent position over his chest, afraid she had hurt him. She stroked Neo's face carefully, pushing back his sweaty hair from his forehead. She whispered, 'are you ok?'

'Yeah,' Neo told her, grasping her hands in his, 'it's really hot in here; you must be boiling.' He flashed her a smile, as she responded with the same, bringing his hands to the hem of her tops, letting him begin to pull them up. Slowly he pushed them further and further up, revealing more and more of her ivory skin. She closed her eyes, anticipating his reaction to her body, scared that he might not like what he saw. She had never considered herself to be beautiful, though everyone insisted she was, but she still didn't believe it, although Neo had always believed she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. This was different though, he was going to see her naked body, but now it was too late as Neo dropped her tops to the floor, leaving her sitting on him in her bra only on her top half.

Neo was silent for some time, leaving Trinity fearing the worst, and it wasn't any better when she finally opened her eyes, seeing Neo below her with his jaw dropped and eyes glazed over. She didn't know that she had stunned Neo to silence, she thought that he didn't like what he saw, so she climbed off of him, laying at his side, and was about to try and cover herself back up before Neo stopped her, 'what's wrong, Trinity?' He rolled on top of her, looking down into her eyes, trying to find reasoning in her previous actions.

Trinity turned her head away from him, breaking the eye contact. She felt terrible inside, as if this was all that Neo had wanted her for and now it would be over. Neo's voice was shaky as he told her, 'if you don't want to do this we don't have to.'

'Why would you want to?' Trinity scathed, still not looking at him.

She had caught him by surprise, and he wondered if he had done anything wrong. He touched her chin, turning her head to face him, and then gently stroked her cheek, saying, 'because I love you, and you're amazingly gorgeous.'

'What?' Trinity said, looking at him properly, fires burning in her eyes.

'I love you and you're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.'

'More beautiful than the woman in the red dress?' Trinity asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

'Trinity, there is no point comparing yourself to that digital tart; you're real and you're more beautiful than she could ever dream to be.'

'Correct answer,' Trinity smiled, reaching up to kiss Neo again.

He asked, 'are you sure you want this?'

'Definitely,' Trinity replied, kissing his neck.

As more clothes were shed, sacred silences were held only broken by words of undying love. Caresses were made, kisses took place, their love was shared from one to the other. Then there was them moment of unity, two becoming one, and there it was, the first part of the prophesy fulfilled in an action of love so holy to them that it was an act of worship.

Trinity was reduced to a babbling mess, her head tossing from side to side as she exploded in time with Neo, 'I'm so sorry, Neo, I'm sorry. I almost lost you…I never would have told you…I'm sorry.'

Neo took Trinity's head in his hands, steadying her as her orgasm faded, leaving her with tears streaming down her face, staring up at Neo. He kissed away her tears delicately, making her shudder beneath him. He rolled off to her side, pulling her tight to his chest, her warm naked body pressed against his, both slick with sweat. She cried into his shoulder clutching at him. He stroked her hair slowly, calming her down. He kissed the top of her head, pulling a sheet up over them to stop the evaporation of their sweat making them cold. Trinity's sobs settled and she fell asleep in Neo's arms, still clinging to him for warmth, comfort and love.

* * *

Neo sighed heavily, holding on to the woman he loved, unable to understand why she was blaming herself, why she felt so guilty, why she had to apologize to him. He wanted to tell her how much she had done for him and that he would always be in her debt, she would never need his forgiveness. He watched her in the dark, nestled against his chest in his arms, just lay there looking at her, feeling her heart beating against his, a solid and delicate reminder that she was alive and with him. The steady rhythm of her pulse and her soft breathing soon brought sleep to Neo, letting him escape the harsh reality for just a few hours.

He awoke upon feeling Trinity moving in his arms the next morning, moving back slightly and then resting her head back on his chest. He asked into the morning darkness, 'Trin? Are you awake?'

She pulled back from him completely, disentangling their bodies from one another. She whispered back, 'yeah, did I wake you? Sorry, I didn't mean to.' She apologized without waiting for his answer, already knowing what it would be.

'It's ok,' Neo said, and then questioned, 'what time is it?'

'The water came on five minutes ago, so about 5 past 5.'

'Oh ok,' Neo responded finally, finding Trinity's hand under the sheets and holding it in his own, stroking the palm softly with his thumb. Trinity sighed heavily, shuffling back closer to Neo. She started, 'Neo, I'm sorry about last night, I started…babbling a lot of stuff…'

'I know, and we can just forget about it if you want.'

Trinity nodded, and then realizing that Neo probably could only just make out that her head was moving, confirmed her answer, 'ok.' Pulling her hand back from his she told him, 'I'm going to have a shower, can you move the chair away from the door while I'm in the bathroom.'

'Sure,' Neo said, trying to make out her figure in the darkness as she headed through to the bathroom, flicking on the main light and the bathroom light together, before closing the bathroom door behind her, so he only just got a glimpse of her from behind. He almost laughed at himself that he was trying to watch her so intently like this, he knew what she looked like, he knew much about her, but still she amazed him. He got up, stretching in the dimly lit room, and then shoved on his clothes, planning to shower later upon finding clean garments. He headed to the door, carefully removing the chair back from under the wheel handle, and placing the chair back where it was originally. Then he sat and waited on Trinity's bed, looking around her small room, which was actually one of the biggest on the ship. The room had the one cot that was larger than a single, but couldn't quite stretch to being called a double, though it could fit two people on if they slept closely, and joined to this room there was a bathroom; a privilege above lower ranks. On the shelves and racks that were just above head height on the walls were several books and bits of bedding. All of her clothes were stored in a hamper across the room from the bed, leaving a wide enough gap for one person to get through.

When Trinity came back through, fully dressed and ready for the day, she gave Neo a small smile before leading him out of her room and along to the mess hall. Everyone looked up at them when they entered, each of them with a kind of smirking smile on their face apart from Morpheus and Dozer. Neo's eyes and expression displayed slight fear and uncertainty of what was going on, but Trinity remained emotionless, unreadable to each person in the room. Of course, Morpheus had spoken to the crew about Neo and Trinity's now obvious relationship, and warned them not to force the couple to come out publicly over this. The crew had agreed, but they each knew that some minor teasing was in store, I mean, how could they resist?

Neo sat down nervously at the table next to Mouse, while Trinity got herself and him a tray of food each, brining it over to him and then sitting down on his other side. They both ate along with the others, Trinity ignoring the glances that she and Neo received every so often, Neo unable to ignore them, so gradually turning pinker as the meal went on. It was a rare occurrence for the entire crew to be silent whilst eating; usually Mouse would have made a new program that he was boasting about, or acting role of digital pimp, or Morpheus would be discussing with Trinity the plans for the day or the shift organization that she was to sort out that evening, or Tank speaking wistfully of Zion, encouraging the excitement inside everyone to be going back home soon. There was always something going on, but not today; everyone was far too interested in how Neo and Trinity were acting around each other. Like usual, it was Morpheus to break the silence, 'Trinity, I plan on us taking route AFH76 then heading along 71HD to gate 2…'

'Where are we now?' Trinity interrupted him quickly.

'Crossroads of AFH76 and IMH345.'

'That should take us a week to get back to Zion; we have enough charge to last two weeks approximately, so that should be fine.'

It amazed everyone how Morpheus and Trinity could discuss things like that, knowing all the routes of the sewers, knowing their distance, being able to work out time like that. No one else bothered learning that kind of stuff; the screens up in the cockpit displayed a map and a compass and even pointed out possible routes, so knowing all this off by heart was not necessary.

Morpheus requested, 'please can you draw up another shift plan for the next week, I believe the current one ends at midnight.'

'I'll get it drawn up this evening,' Trinity promised.

Morpheus nodded in acceptance, getting up to place his tray and spork in the sink. He left, leaving one request, 'Dozer, please will you join me in the cockpit as soon as possible so we can start taking this course back home.'

'Yes, sir,' Dozer replied, before Morpheus left entirely. A few minutes after their captain had left, Dozer followed.

As soon as he had gone, everyone stopped eating and looked up at Neo and Trinity; they looked up in return once the crew had got their attention. No one said anything, and Neo nervously swallowed the last sporkful of goop from his tray. Tank began to say, 'So…'

Before Trinity cut him off, 'I don't have time for this shit.' She chucked her spork and tray into the sink along with Neo's, and then headed out of the room, planning on getting some of her work done after checking things over with Morpheus. Neo was quick to follow, seeing the questions coming at him; no one was afraid to ask him about what had happened between Trinity and himself.

Up in the cockpit Morpheus was talking to Trinity as Neo came up the last few rungs of the ladder, 'Trinity, I'd like you to have a virus and bug scan just to make sure you're fully healthy. It might be linked to why you've been passing out.'

'Morpheus, I have a lot of work to do within the next week and I don't have time to waste,' Trinity said firmly.

'It only takes half an hour, and I will insist if you do not volunteer.'

'I have a lot of paperwork to do before we arrive in Zion, Morpheus, else we will not be allowed to leave there again once docked. It could take me some time to do, and I have other things to do as well, like the shift plan and repair checks.'

'Please, Trinity, don't make this difficult for yourself or me, I think Neo would also appreciate it if you had it done.'

She softened inside at the sound of Neo's name, and thought it over for a moment. If it would make him happy then maybe she should just get it over and done with, it could be part of her resolution to give more and not always take. She agreed, 'ok, but don't blame me if I'm unable to complete all my work.'

She headed down to the core, but Morpheus held Neo back, 'Neo, wait here for a moment, I need to talk to you briefly.'

'Ok,' Neo said, and remained where he was.

Once Trinity was well out of hearing range he spoke to the younger man, 'Trinity is going to be very busy over the next week, and as much as you might feel compelled to help her, you must allow her to do this herself. By all means support her, but don't get in her way. It is important that she gets this work done on her own. It's also been known for her temper to fly and for her stress levels to rise when she's working under this kind of pressure, so don't take it to heart if she gets annoyed at you.'

'I'll bear that in mind,' Neo said, and then proceeded after Trinity.

Please Review! I know I've uploaded loads all at once, butI still like reviews. Thank you. xxx


	4. chapter 4

Neo found Trinity with Tank in the core, standing by the screens while the operator rummaged through a drawer containing disks. Tank pulled out one, holding it up to the light, and then saying, 'got it.'

Trinity wandered over to her chair, checking over the information on the screen, and then sat back. She said, 'Neo, can you insert the plug and then hit the enter button on the screen.'

Neo nodded, and gently inserted the plug into her bioport, careful not to cause her discomfort or pain. Neo sat and watched as the program started up, checking Trinity's mind and body for computerized faults. He walked over to the screens so he could see what was actually going on within the construct. Tank commented, 'you really are in love with our Trinity, aren't you?'

'Yeah,' Neo said shyly but fondly, looking at the decoded construct in front of him.

'So, how long have you guys been together? I mean it hasn't been a quick over night thang, that's for sure.'

'A while,' Neo admitted, 'we we're good friends after I was unplugged.'

'And now you're a lot more than just that,' Tank grinned.

Neo smiled and nodded to himself, not used to receiving this kind of attention.

'She's lucky that she's ended up with a guy like you, Neo, you'll be really good for her, everyone can see that, shit, even Cypher can see that, and trust me, when it comes to these kind of thangs he can't normally spot them even when they're staring him in the face.'

'I'm just glad that I'm in this relationship with her, she's really helped me a lot, and I just wanna help her now. She actually made me see who I really am, now I don't know how to thank her.'

'Take it from me, you've already done a lot for her and I know you'll end up doing more whether you want to or not. What I really want to know about you, Neo, is how you can do all this amazing shit. I mean, in all my years as working as an operator I have never seen anyone be able to do so much. I know it's mainly to do with you being the one, and the oracle probably told you that you'd be able to do it, but still it must take something in your mind to actually make you do this.'

'The oracle told me I wasn't the one,' Neo said feebly, trusting his life with Tank so feeling able to trust what was said as well.

'What!' Tank said, taken aback to say the least. 'I've never heard her get anything so wrong. Personally I don't see the joy in visiting some old woman who's gonna give you some fate that you can't change so you just have to accept, so I pity you that you may be going back again.'

'Why would I go back again? I though each person only went once.'

'Neo, no matter what she said first time round, you definitely are the one, and she's gonna have to give you a little talk about what that really means. She'll also be telling you how to handle Trinity, trust me, it took some time, but the she even managed to break our second in command.'

After a short while of no one saying anything else, Neo asked, 'how's she doing with the check-up?'

'So for she's fine, but you never know with these things until the very last minute,' Tank replied, bringing up Trinity's display on screen.

'What else could be affecting her if it isn't a bug?'

'To be honest, Neo, I'm not sure. We'll just have to see how things go. If the problem persists we may have to refer her to the hospital in Zion. I'm sure it's nothing too serious though, so don't worry yourself.'

'I just don't want her to be alone again if it does happen, I know that she won't willingly admit that she needs help.'

'That's one annoying thing about her, even if it's for her won good, she won't admit when she's in trouble. She thinks that we'll see her as weak, but of course we don't. She's the strongest woman I've ever met and nothing will change my beliefs when it comes to that. You can tell Trinity anything about herself, but something won't let her believe it, so she'll insist that it's not true. Like we've tried and tried to tell her that she is actually beautiful but she still won't listen.'

'Is that something to do with her past in the matrix?'

'How do you mean?'

'Well, if a child is brought up being told they are ugly, and then they're always going to believe that, aren't they?'

'I don't know much about Trinity's past, only Morpheus knows for sure, but that might be linked to it. You could talk to Trinity about it, she might not want to talk at first, but she'll soften with you eventually.'

'I'm not so sure about that…'

'Neo, she's head over heels for you man, of course she'll soften for you.'

'I just don't want to get involved with he past if she'd rather forget about it.'

'Or maybe she's never had an outlet to her past, someone who she can trust and talk to. Maybe she desperately needs someone who will listen and understand; someone like you. You think about that, Neo, and you might see what I'm talking about.'

Neo turned back to face Trinity just as her eyes opened and she looked around her as much as she could. Neo carefully removed the plug, and then undid the clamps on her feet, freeing her and giving her a hand up. She thanked him quietly, and then moved over to where Tank was sat, asking, 'what are the results?'

'You're one hundred percent completely clean, nothing wrong with you to do with computers or the matrix,' Tank told her.

Trinity nodded in acceptance, and then said to no one in particular, 'I guess I better go tell Morpheus.' She left the core, leaving Tank and Neo behind. Neo turned back to Tank, asking him, 'what shall I do now, I meant to have a shift but it didn't say what doing?'

'Ok, well, I'm going on a break, so you could take over the screens if you wanted I don't think anyone else is scheduled to do so.'

'What am I actually meant to do on a screen watch?'

'Hasn't anyone ever told you that?'

'No, never.'

'Well, as you know, we're searching for people to free from the matrix, so we watch the matrix using the screens. We mainly focus on the USA area, but we can see the whole digital world using these screens.'

'How do you know if someone has the potential to be freed?'

'They'll be different in some way. Normally they are hackers, they aren't attached to anyone, most cases are children or adolescents, they seem to be more knowledgeable than others, there is just something that stands out about them. Many spend ages on their own, and aren't very interactive with others unless necessary. They're just like you were, except younger.'

'Ok…'

'I'll send Trinity down to monitor you as you take your first shift. No doubt she'll help you more than I have.'

Neo smiled slightly, 'Thanks, Tank.'

'No problem, man.' Tank left the core, and Neo was soon joined by Trinity. Neo had already sat in the chair, getting used to the controls of the screen, picking up the basics very quickly. Trinity stood by his side, trying to reach across him to show him other things. He took her by surprise by lifting her up onto his lap. She gave him a weird look, and then smiled at him, continuing her explanation of the controls.

They sat like that for a couple of hours, sharing the shift. Neo learned a lot in that time, and although they hadn't found anyone who particularly stood out as a possible to be freed, they did spot a few to track for a while. Morpheus came down from the cockpit, smiling when he saw them sharing the chair.

He walked up behind them, saying, 'Neo, Trinity, you can go on a break now, shift's over.'

Trinity hurriedly got off of Neo's lap, pretending that she hadn't ever been on him. Morpheus couldn't help but smile, and decided to leave them before she embarrassed herself by denying the fact that she had been found sat on Neo's lap. Neo got up after Trinity, and then placed a hand on the small of her back, propelling her slightly to the exit as they made their way to the mess hall.

Mouse and Switch were there already, having just started their lunch. Neo and Trinity each go a tray of goop and a spork and sat with the other two members of crew. Mouse commented with a childlike smirk, 'you two looked nice and cosy together on the operator's chair.' He spooned another sporkful of goop into his mouth as he waited for either a reaction or reply from Neo or Trinity to his comment.

Neo blushed, gathering enough courage and saying, 'it was convenient at the time; it meant we could both reach the controls.'

Trinity seemed a bit surprised that Neo had actually said something in response, but she was glad that he felt able to reply to such comments now. It was good that he was settling in properly and getting used to the different situations that occurred within conversation onboard the Nebuchadnezzar.

That evening, Trinity entered her quarters, closing the door after her and heading straight to the back of the room. She bent down, gripping her fingers under a panel on the wall. She slid the metal panel up, locking it in place to reveal a door that lead into another room that only she and Morpheus knew about. She turned the wheel three times round clockwise and then pressed it into the door, causing the entrance to the room to open. This room was Trinity's, what could be called, office. It was a very simple room, with a large desk and a chair alike to the one in the core. There was one light strip on the ceiling which was powerful enough to fully light the whole room. All around the walls there were shelves, each with stacks of books, records and files on them. The desk was kept tidy, only having two files on it, along with her pens for writing. The only other objects were a laptop and a printer that was connected to it. Although many of the records were kept on paper, many more were stored on her computer, so she could easily send the information on to Zion.

Trinity hated having to write on paper, mainly because of the material it was made of. She missed the paper from back in the matrix, soft and white, pure and untouched, but here it was a dull grey synthetic material, rough to touch and unpleasant to write on. The ink wasn't pleasant either; it was a kind of mixture of earth and oil. It was easy to see why computer technology was preferred.

Trinity sat down on the chair at the desk, switching on the laptop and the printer, and whilst waiting for them to load, grabbing another file from a shelf at the back of the room, she began to flick through it. Eventually she pulled out a printed off sheet, with the past rota for the shifts on it.

She pushed herself away from the desk, sending her and the chair backwards so she could reach the small radio in the corner of the room. It used pirate signals to transmit radio stations from inside the matrix to the real world. They were rarely allowed on ships due to sentinel activity, but Morpheus had trusted Trinity with one, so bought it for her as a gift when she first became the second in command and took up all these new duties. The radio was plugged into a small socket in the wall, so that if there was the need for all power to be switched off, it would automatically shut down, as did her computer and printer, although the computer had been fixed with an immediate save so it would save all work before turning off.

Trinity tuned the radio into one of her favourite stations from back in the matrix. Keeping the volume down to a reasonable level, she started her shift rota, humming along to the music in order to maintain her concentration. She was only interrupted several minutes later by a rapping at her main door, which was opened and entered by Neo. Trinity called through to him, 'I'm in here at the back, Neo.'

Cautiously Neo approached the secret entrance to Trinity's office, and stood in the doorway, taking a long look around the room before asking, 'what is this place?'

'This is my office, it's where I try to get all my paperwork done in order for our ship to remain in use and be granted access to enter and leave Zion, and other things as well. I bet you didn't know that seconds in command had to do more than just boss inferiors about,' Trinity replied, tilting her head to look up at him.

'I should probably leave you to do your work, I know it's important,' Neo said, 'I just wanted to say goodnight before I went back to my quarters.'

Trinity nodded slowly, and then suggested, 'you can stay here if you want. You could sleep in my bed and I'd join you later.'

Neo seemed to agree, having spent many other nights in Trinity's room, holding her as she slept. He said, 'ok, do you mind if I get some clean clothes and have a shower?'

'Of course, feel free to do what you want. I'll be finished with this in a couple of hours, so I'll try not to disturb you later on.'

'Thanks,' Neo said timidly, and then left Trinity to it.

She continued her work, trying to fit everyone into different shifts that were fair and manageable for each person. She also had to take into account at what point in time where they would be on the journey back home, as it was important for either Dozer or herself to accompany Morpheus in the last stretch to the gate. Also, time had to be allowed for sparring and training, plus for sleep patterns to adjust. Now she also had the added difficulty that she didn't want to be constantly away from Neo. It made matters complicated; she knew that she and Neo worked well together and that it would do them good to spend time together either training or resting, but also at some point they would need their own space, time when they were on different shifts. It was like that with most of the crew, but no one as much as Neo and herself; you couldn't have two people spending too much time together with shift timings for the simple reasons that their connections with others may be broken but their attachment to one strengthened, while working like this everyone needed to be able to trust everyone. Some had more of a bond with others, like Tank and Dozer because they were brothers, or Trinity and Morpheus because they were in a very close father daughter relationship, but each person needed to be able to trust everyone else on board with their life, it was the only way that they could operate properly and effectively. One other problem was fitting in her own paperwork, meaning she would have to cut down her own shifts, something that she didn't intend to do.

Later that evening, once the rota was completely sorted, she printed it off twice, and then silently made her way through her main room. Neo was asleep on her bed, tucked under the covers, leaving room for her to join him. She stopped and knelt down, looking at him for one moment, before kissing him and proceeding to leave in search of Morpheus.

She knocked on the door to his quarters, and waited for a reply. There was a squeaking sound as the wheel was turned on the inside and the door slowly swung open. Trinity told him as he stood in the doorway, 'I've got the shift rota finished.' She handed one of the sheets over to him, keeping the other to post up the next morning in the mess hall.

'Thank you, Trinity,' Morpheus replied, and then upon seeing how tired she actually was, he asked, 'are you ok?'

'I'll be fine,' Trinity said.

'You should get some rest, or take a break. Where's Neo?'

'He's asleep in my room, but I can't stop now, I've got to send off some sheets tonight, else it'll all just backlog.'

'Don't stay up for much longer, you understand?'

Trinity nodded and made her way back to her quarters. Neo was awake when she got back, sitting up on the bed waiting for her. He grabbed her hand and pulled her down to sit with him. Neo positioned himself behind Trinity, placing small kisses at the back of her neck. She tried to complain, 'Neo, I've got work to do, I don't have time…'

'Trin, just relax first, then I'll let you go, ok?' Neo said, pulling her overtops off, leaving her in her tank top. He gently massaged her through her tops, working out the tenseness in her muscles. Her eyes closed softly, and she let herself fall back slightly into Neo's touch. Slowly her tiredness overwhelmed her, and she drifted off to sleep in Neo's arms. Neo carefully laid her down, taking off her boots for her, and then covering her with blanket as he held her.

The next morning Trinity awoke to find herself in bed with Neo, her office door still wide opened. She never left her office opened, and that's when the memory hit her, she hadn't done the work yet. She quickly prised Neo's hands off of her, getting up and finding her tops and boots, shoving them on in a hurry and then getting back through into her work area. She sat down at her desk, opening various files on her laptop and getting to work immediately.

Under an hour later, Neo appeared in the doorway once more. Trinity said before he had time to get a word in, 'No, Neo, leave me alone, you didn't let me work last night so I have to work now.'

Neo wasn't bothered to argue with her, so he just left her to get on with it, heading to the mess hall. Morpheus asked when Neo entered, 'where's Trinity?'

'She's working and refusing to leave,' Neo told him.

'Didn't she get the work done last night?' Morpheus queried.

'No, she fell asleep so I put her to bed.' He blushed upon seeing Tank smirking obviously.

* * *

Cut off the chapter short because I couldn't really be bothered to continue this bit, it didn't seem to be going anywhere. I still hope you enjoyed it. 


	5. chapter 5

A very rushed and short chapter, I must apologise, but I'm writing several chapters at once and I've rather neglected this one. I hope the general idea gets across anyway. Hopefully the next few chapters will make up for this lousy one.

* * *

Trinity took Neo's hand, leading him back to her room. She closed the door quietly after they had both entered, and motioned for Neo to sit with her on the bed. He obliged, taking his place next to her. She started slowly, 'Neo, when we're staying in Zion, do you want to live with me in my apartment? And then maybe when we next board the Nebuchadnezzar you could move in with me here.'

'Do you want me to? I'd love to live with you, but are you sure this is what you want?' Neo questioned back, looking deep into Trinity's eyes.

She nodded, staring back into his, drawn in, feeling the want to kiss him, make love to him right at that moment. Neo nodded back at her, saying, 'ok, I guess I will then.' Trinity didn't respond in anyway, too enthralled by Neo's chocolate eyes. She leaned forward, brushing her lips against his lightly first, waiting as he reacted with the same, and then deepened the kiss, pressing her lips against his properly; trying to convey her love.

The call over the intercom interrupted them, 'Trinity, please can you make sure your final work is filed ready for delivery and then report to the cockpit.'

Trinity pulled back from Neo hesitantly, slipping out of his arms. She placed one final kiss squarely on his lips, and then returned to her office briefly, gathering together all her final work which was to be hand delivered rather than emailed. She packaged it all up into a file, labelling it "Nebuchadnezzar, Trinity" and then set it down on the bed, returning to lock up her secret door. She pulled a bag out from under the bed, handing it to Neo and telling him, 'go into my hamper and collect two sets of everything, fold them neatly and put them in this bag. Then return to your room and do the same for you. Take the bag to the mess hall once you're done and I'll meet you there later.'

'Ok,' Neo said, kissing her cheek before she rushed off to the cockpit. She joined Morpheus, taking her seat next to him. He informed her, 'we're clear for entry in through gate eight. Have you finished all your work?'

'Yes, I've already sent off the papers necessary for the ships, and I have my personal papers ready for delivery,' Trinity told him, taking up the controls.

'This trip to Zion is going to be very busy for you, I hope you realize that. It is compulsory that you make a visit to the hospital as well; I've already made you an appointment.'

'What are the exact plans for the next week?' Trinity asked.

'The first day you have off to rest or do whatever you please, as you will with the second half of the second day, but the first half is when you must report to the hospital- 8AM sharp. The third day I will take you to Councillor Hammond, where we will be discussing the work that you are handing in to him. You may wish for me to stay with you then, but by all means you may request that I leave, I will let you decide when we come to it. The fourth day may be further talks, I am unsure, if they are not taking place then you will have a free day, in which I suggest you show Neo around, let him get a feel for what he is saving. The fifth day will be your exams. The sixth will be a final day of rest before we return to the ship on the seventh.'

Trinity nodded, taking in all the information.

'Have you told Neo about your exams or the extra papers you have been doing?'

'No, I didn't think it was right to tell him yet. I don't want to tell him until I'm sure of the results and what's going to happen. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to go through with this now, Morpheus, I have so much more to loose now. It may sound strange, but I…I need Neo…and I don't think I can do this…without him.'

'That's perfectly reasonable, Trinity, but just remember when you pass you don't have to take up the offer…'

'If I pass,' Trinity corrected him.

'Trinity, I know you will pass, there is no way you could fail. I have all my faith in you and I will support you one hundred percent of the way. I want you to know that there is no pressure to take up this offer if you do pass, it's only temporary, but it may turn permanent, so you just have a think about it, and maybe once you've got the results you may decided to go along with it for a while.'

'We'll see,' Trinity said quietly, still not confident that she would definitely pass. She asked, 'when will I get my results?'

'I've asked Councillor Hammond if we could have them on the sixth day, and seeing as no one else is taking the exam he said that he would make sure it was done for you. I've never told you before, Trinity, but you've made me more proud than I thought I ever could be. It has been an honour for you to have served as my second in command.'

'It's been an honour to work for you, Morpheus.'

The final ten minutes or so of the journey was made in silence between the captain and his second in command.

Trinity's time in Zion was divided into to sections pretty much as Morpheus told her they would be. The first day was spent at home with Neo, but rather than resting they spent the time getting to know each other, each other's bodies and Trinity also told him about the ways in which Zion worked. Most of the day was spent in bed though, certainly not only talking. Neo learned the points of Trinity's body as well as she learned his, each finding the preferred places to touch, and discovering what would send them each into oblivion.

The second day Trinity went to the hospital like Morpheus had requested. Both Morpheus and Neo accompanied her, more for support than anything else. Trinity was a little annoyed that all this fuss was being made over her, but she accepted it graciously, and just got on with the appointment. She had to explain to one of the doctors what had happened each time she had fainted with Morpheus and Neo describing what they did when these pass outs happened. The doctor had made Trinity have several tests taken, getting her to leave behind bloody samples and urine samples to be sent off to the labs. Trinity didn't appreciate the needles been stuck in her, but she just sat there and got through it. He was told that the results would be sent to her on board the ship if they were important or health endangering. The doctor didn't think that it was anything dangerous though, more just the case of the beginnings of a light flu or a stomach bug. Trinity accepted those as either of the reasons, and agreed to be vaccinated against the flu in case that was the problem.

The second half of the day was spent in bed with Neo again, practising everything they had learned about each other the day before.

On the third day Morpheus collecting Trinity early in the morning, leaving Neo to rest for the day in the apartment on his own with members of the crew visiting through the day to keep him company. Tank took him to one of the bars with the rest of the crew, but was kind enough to make sure he only had one drink, any more could have got him completely pissed.

While Neo and the others were out in one of the bars, Trinity and Morpheus were sat in Councillor Hammond's chambers with the councillor, talking through the position that had been offered to Trinity, and what the position would require her to do. As was customary, Trinity's past in the real world was delved into to see what she had accomplished in her time. Trinity left behind the file that she had completed as part of her exams, and then returned to her apartment on her own. When she got back she found Neo asleep in bed whilst Tank, Switch and Mouse sat in the living room area, chatting. Trinity inquired why they were here, and Tank explained, 'we all went out to a bar, and I took Neo along with us, he's only had one drink, but I think that was enough for him, so we decided to let him sleep it off. We wanted to wait until you got back though just in case he was ill.'

'Ok, well thanks for bothering to wait until I got back. He'll just have to sleep it off now,' Trinity said. The others stayed with her while Neo continued to sleep, giving them some time to chat to each other.

The fourth day was indeed free, so Trinity took up Morpheus' idea of showing Neo around, and took him on a day trip of Zion, showing him all the places that there were. He got to see the orphanage, the daily market, the temple, the engineering level, and just generally what he was going to save.

The fifth day Trinity woke up with butterflies in her stomach, he wrote a note to Neo, saying that she'd be back in the afternoon because she had business to attend to, and then left him to sleep. She took her exams with Councillor Hammond watching. The exams were all written ones, one on engineering, one in computing and programming, another in advanced computing, one in electronics, one in construction and a final one in management. Trinity's general skills did not need to be tested, seeing as Morpheus had already testified for Trinity being the best engineer he had ever met. Having seen some of her work and her skills at the controls of a ship before, councillor Hammond didn't need to be further convinced.

The sixth day was more time with Neo, talking to him, showing him a bit more of Zion, and taking him out to another bar to let him get used to the Zion alcohol before dropping him back off at home the headed to meet councillor Hammond. The councillor explained to Trinity that he couldn't have her results ready for her for quite some time. Things had come up at council that needed attending to and he was overloaded with paperwork now, but he'd mark them as soon as he could and send the results on. Trinity was disappointed, but accepted the fact that she would not be receiving the marks yet.

* * *

Please Review!


	6. chapter 6

Trinity was the last to board the ship, hanging around a bit longer than necessary just to see if her results would come through. She was approached by Councillor Hammond as she came off the lift in the docking bay, about to leave. He took her to one side, away from the crowds of people exiting the dockings bay, heading to their ships or working on repairs. The councillor told Trinity, 'I'm sorry that I've been unable to mark and score your exams, Trinity, but I'll send them through to Morpheus within the next month.'

'Thank you,' Trinity said politely, 'I better go; my crew and captain are waiting.'

'Of course, off you go, and don't worry about these exams, everyone expects high things of you, Trinity, and I know you'll have done us proud.'

Trinity nodded in thanks, not sure whether she should now be more nervous or more comforted. She hoisted her bag back up onto her shoulder, all her things packed ready for the next three or four months, and then headed off to Neo who was waiting for her with Morpheus at the top of the Nebuchadnezzar's ramp. She handed her bag to Neo, saying, 'please can you put this in our room; I have to help up in the cockpit but I'll see you in a couple of hours.'

'Ok,' Neo said, taking the bag from her and waiting as she pecked him on the cheek before walking off.

Councillor Hammond stood watching the three people standing at the top of the ramp, and upon seeing Trinity with Neo, he noted it mentally so he could discuss this with Morpheus. He continued to watch for as long as he could until the ramp had been brought fully up and locked, ready for departure. He headed back to his chambers, finding Trinity's file he had been given and attached a piece of paper to the top with a note on, commenting on her relationship with Neo. He sat back, slowly opening he file, and began to look through her work, taking his time to make sure he made no mistakes upon marking. The same long process would have to go with the exams that she had sat, but all the results could be in by the end of the day, the only thing stopping him from sending them out to her was the oracle. He had been sent word from her, saying that no matter what the circumstances, in order to fulfil the prophesy Trinity must not receive her results until exactly one month and five days since she sat the exam. He knew that Neo was the one, although Morpheus did not bring him to the council, knowing the tests that would be run and the constant arguing over his legitimacy. He knew that Neo and Trinity were in love, which was why Morpheus was protecting them. He knew that the captain was going to gather evidence prior to standing before the Zion council, knowing that they would not believe a word he said without back up.

Two hours away from Zion was where the Nebuchadnezzar was to stop for the next couple of days, before they moved further out and spent time either staying in place or roaming. Trinity helped to land the ship with Morpheus, before Tank used to the intercom to inform them both, 'Morpheus, Trinity, the oracle has called and requests to speak to Neo.'

Morpheus picked up the system in the cockpit and replied, 'prepare both my chair and Neo's and get ready to send us in. I want to be inside the matrix within the next ten minutes.'

'Roger that, sir,' Tank's cheery voice came back.

Morpheus turned to Trinity, seeing her face stricken with held back fear, 'Trinity, it's ok, nothing will happen.'

Trinity nodded, although she wasn't convinced, and then joined Morpheus down to the core, where Neo and Tank were already waiting. Morpheus sat back in his chair, Neo did likewise, and while Tank plugged in the captain, Trinity plugged in her love. Trinity said sternly to Neo, 'you better keep safe.'

'I will,' he promised her, pulling her down for a soft kiss on the lips while no one was watching, 'I'll see you when I get back, hopefully with good news this time.'

'I'll be waiting,' Trinity told him, and then hit the load button on his screen, sending him into the construct.

Morpheus and Neo stood in the construct together, Morpheus waiting as Neo grabbed a couple of hand guns, and he himself did the same. Neo's mentor called up to Tank, 'send us in, Tank.'

Neo took several deep breaths as the world of the matrix appeared around them, letting them arrive in an abandoned shop, a phone ringing in front of them. Morpheus picked it up, 'we're in.'

'Hello, kiddo, how're you?' the oracle asked Neo as he entered her kitchen.

'I'm ok, thanks,' Neo replied politely.

'Take a seat,' the oracle instructed him.

Neo thought about it for a minute, and then decided to sit as she had told him to. He waited as she finished laying the cookies out to cool on a rack. She turned on her stool to face him. She took a good look at him and then smiled. She said, 'as you and your friends may have gathered, you are the one. I think you know that Trinity has a little something to do with that.'

Neo nodded, and then the oracle continued, 'so, have you told her how you feel? Is everything good between you two?'

'You already know the answer to your questions though, so why do you keep asking me?'

'Because otherwise this wouldn't be very good conversation,' she reasoned. 'I've never known someone as inquisitive as you, Neo, and I don't think I'll ever meet anyone like you ever again. I still want to hear it from you, Neo, are you and Trinity happy?'

'Yes, very much so,' Neo told her.

'Are you in fact in love with her? Do you see a future with her?'

'Yes, I love her with everything I have and I can only see forward with her,' Neo admitted, surprising himself at how unlike him it actually sounded, although this was entirely how he felt.

'Have you ever thought about starting a family with her?'

'No,' Neo was a little bit shocked to say the least, 'we've only admitted our true feelings a couple of weeks ago…Trinity can't have kids…' The question had brought surprise to Neo, only because he in fact had never thought about it before. He knew that he and Trinity didn't use protection, but only because she had assured him that she couldn't get pregnant. He never thought any more of it after that, I mean, after all, they had been together as a couple for a maximum of four months, and had only had a sexual relationship for the last two of those weeks at tops. This wasn't the point where Neo was meant to be thinking about starting a family, although he could see himself with Trinity for the rest of their future, but surely anyone who can admit that they love someone must see a future there. A relationship's pointless to start unless you want more, and Neo just knew that he would be more than happy to live out the rest of his life with the strong female figure that was his second in command.

'Don't be so shocked, kiddo, I was just asking, although I do have something to tell you. I don't know if you'll like what you'll hear, but I feel I must tell you, for your own good.' Now the oracle was starting with her mystics again, the speech now seemed pointless. No matter what Neo felt after he was told, he would be told, he would want to be told. The way the oracle phrased the lead up to the foresight was enticing, you'd have to be a very strong person not to be intrigued and want to learn more. How are you supposed to know how you're going to react until you've actually already heard it? Another thing that Neo noted somewhere in the back of his mind was how the oracle said that she didn't know how Neo would react, but of course, she must have seen further into the future than this point of time in order to be able to tell Neo what she was going to say, so she would have already experienced the one's reaction.

'Tell me what?' Just like any other person, Neo inquired what she wanted to tell him, not bothered by how he would feel afterward.

'Neo, Trinity will become pregnant with your child and there is no way you can prevent it, somehow I don't think you'll be able to just stay away from her; you fallen for her too hard.'

'What? When is this going to happen?' The idea didn't process properly in his mind; it wasn't the sort of thing you are told everyday, so of course how was he meant to know what to say or do?

'Next time you two sleep together, but I don't advise talking to her before hand, she might not take it well. It will happen tonight, Neo, and you can't stop it.'

'Is this all?' The initial shock was wearing off, overtaken by anger. He didn't know what he felt like, he would be pleased, but what about Trinity? She probably didn't want a kid, it wasn't right at this time; they were in the middle of a war. But how could Neo stop it from happening? No matter what he said or did, this was going to take place. It's that feeling that Neo hated. That Fate crap. Anyone else who was put in Neo's position could see where he was coming from with his hate of fate. Who really wanted to have their whole life already laid out in front of them, unable to change it? From the moment you were born that was who you were sentenced to be, even before you were born though. Before you were in the womb, before you were two separate parts of a jigsaw in two different people, before those people were in the womb, before they were parts of a jigsaw, before their parents were in the womb, before they were parts of a jigsaw… it could go on for ever and it did in fact, right back to the beginning.

'Yes, I'm sorry if that wasn't the news you wanted. Here, have a cookie.'

Neo accepted a cookie sourly, and then said his goodbyes, leaving the room in search of Morpheus. The cookie tasted as sour as his thoughts, he couldn't believe that this woman could just do this to people and not give a shit. It wasn't right, didn't she feel any remorse?

Morpheus sensed that Neo was in a state of confusion and anger, so did not press him for anything, preferring he found it inside himself to talk. Neo remained silent though, walking along side Morpheus to the nearest exit. The calls were made and both men were brought back to the real world. Neo sat up slowly after Trinity had unplugged him. She searched for meaning in his angered eyes, but couldn't see past the barricade he had built. He didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want to upset her, and he didn't want her to know this yet.

Trinity said quietly, still looking into his eyes, 'Neo?'

Neo allowed a wall of his defense to fall, opening up a little bit more to her. He smiled at her, trying to reassure her. He told her quietly, 'I'm the one.'

Trinity hugged him, knowing this wasn't his secret, she asked in a whisper, 'what's the matter, Neo?'

He buried his face in her shoulder trying to hold back the tears that were now forming. He wasn't upset, but he was scared, he didn't know where he was going or what he was doing. He only knew that he had the full ability to hurt Trinity, to make her vulnerable, to make himself vulnerable, and he didn't want that. The tears started to flow Trinity could do nothing but hold him tighter. She slowly directed him out of the room as their captain looked on, standing next to their operator.

Neo and Trinity were given time off for a while, allowing Neo to pull his thoughts together in the company of Trinity, who sat silently and comforted him as much as she could. Neo cried for a bit, and then he lay back on the bed next to Trinity, hugging her as he thought things over, but he kept bringing back bad ideas into his mind quite by accident. He thought of the woman who lay in his arms, knowing that the same time tomorrow she'd be carrying his child inside her.

Trinity asked, 'do you want to talk?'

Neo turned to see her face, showing her the fear in his eyes, letting her know that as much as he'd love to talk to her he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Trinity nodded in understanding, letting it drop, 'if you ever need to talk to me, Neo, I'm here for you. I want you to know that.'

Neo hugged Trinity tighter to his chest, feeling her relax in his arms, sort of melt inside. He just felt comforted by her presence, and wanted to stay like that forever. They lay together on their bed for quite sometime, just remaining in each others arms.

Later on there came a knock at the door, and after being called through, Mouse entered. He said, wide eyed, 'Trinity, Morpheus requests that if you are both up to it now that you take your shift together before breaking for the night.'

'Thank you, Mouse, we'll be through in the core in a minute,' Trinity replied, watching as the door squeaked shut again. Neo's grip around Trinity loosened, and they stood up. Trinity stopped him before he got to the door, 'Neo, are you sure you're ok?'

'I'll be fine, Trin,' Neo told her, standing before her looking lost and helpless. Trinity held her arms out to him, and he soon joined her in an embrace. Once finished they headed to the core, ready for their shift.

As the hours grew later and later Neo was becoming more and more nervous, knowing what was to happen soon between him and Trinity. The rest of the crew had left to return to their quarters by now. The only people that were up would be Cypher and Apoc, both on night shift after Neo and Trinity. Soon Apoc would be appearing to relieve them, but even that didn't stop them from catching sight of what was going on in front of them.

Each second they watched on their mouths became drier and drier, but they felt unable to stop watching. Neo knew where this would lead to, but still, he couldn't help it. They watched the couple that had just arrived back from some piss up. They were obviously completely out of their heads with alcohol, unable to think straight. They rushed into the bedroom, stripping off their clothes, and then they were straight down on the bed having very passionate sex.

Neo and Trinity could feel the heat radiating off of each other, and the sexual friction between them couldn't help but be noticed. Trinity noted the time, knowing that Apoc would be here soon, so she got up, taking Neo's hand and dragging him away after zooming out of the scene they had stumbled upon. She quickly pulled Neo into a fiery kiss, blowing his mind away. He was slow to respond, but it was worth it when he did. They continued in the darkness of the core, kissing passionately, before Trinity broke the kiss to drag him back to their quarters.

Although the sex was as silent as they could make it, the fire was roaring more than ever. The first hit was enough to drive them both insane, thinking that they couldn't move for a least a couple of days, but their exhaustion was quickly overcome as they stepped back in the ring for a second round.

Each time they came back for more, totaling in seven sessions that night before both falling asleep, unable to go on.

Neo woke up first the next morning, cursing quietly to himself as he remembered what he had let happen. He couldn't tell Trinity of what he had done though; he couldn't tell her that she was pregnant. He could hope that the oracle was wrong or that she had lied; he couldn't face the truth. The woman that lay in bed with him was pregnant with his child. He looked up at the ceiling just in time to see the lights flickering on, telling him by their timings that it must have been about 6 AM. Trinity woke up as the lights were coming on. She sat up next to Neo, holding the sheets around her. She blinked heavily, trying to hold up the sheets in one hand whilst combing back her messy hair with her fingers of the other hand. She sighed heavily about forgetting to change the settings for the lighting in their room. On board the ships, the lights were used as a wake up call, and you could set them to whatever time you needed to be up at. Trinity felt Neo's hand against the small of her back, rubbing her lightly there.

She turned and smiled at him, taking a good look at his chest, loving waking up like this with him, apart from the obvious risk of someone walking in and discovering them. She suggested, 'maybe we should go for a shower.'

'Good idea,' Neo said, helping Trinity up, grabbing some clean clothes for them both as they walked through to the bathroom. Trinity got the hot water running, and then pulled Neo in with her. They each washed themselves, washing their hair as well, removing all signs of last night's events.

Morpheus was in the core, on the phone to Councilor Hammond. The councilor had phoned that morning wanting to speak to Morpheus about three things; Neo and Trinity's relationship, Trinity's results, and Neo being the one. Morpheus was willing to talk, eager to find out how his second in command had done.

'Morpheus, one thing that I hold of major importance is your discovery of the one. Although you have not brought it to council, I know that you believe you have found him in your latest freed man, Neo,' the councilor started.

'That is right, Councilor, I hope you can understand my reasoning for not bringing him forward yet though. The oracle has confirmed that he is the one, but I know that many of the council are non believers, so it thought it wise to gather evidence first,' Morpheus explained.

'It is well though out, Morpheus, and I credit you for it, but I'd just like to say, that I am a believer in him and I will support your claim all the way.'

'Thank you councilor,' Morpheus said.

'That's quite alright. Moving on, I have Trinity's results, but after being told by the oracle not to let her know until a further month, I must not let her have them. If you wish to know them I may tell you, but in order to protect the one, you can't tell her.'

'It would help me to know, just so I could prepare her in anyway if necessary, though I promise on my life not to tell her. The oracle must have reason for them not to be passed on, and no matter what the reason I will understand that.'

'Good, well, as you know, Trinity was offered the change to become a captain, all she had to do was take these exams and complete the paperwork set. I've always expected high things of her, but she has astounded even me. In each exam she managed to get full marks and for her paperwork she received full marks as well. Upon further discussion with the council, we decided it would be unsuitable for her to receive a captainship, so she has been offered the chance to be a commander. She would be in control of all maintenance and construction in Zion, including the electrics, the ship repairs, the way in which the academy teaches electronics and construction. But also she would be in charge of al programming used on board the ships, able to designate the programs to use in training. As you know, Morpheus, the opportunity for her here is enormous; she would be straight in line for a place on the council.'

'I don't know what to say in reply, all I can say is that I've never been prouder in my life. I know she will be happy to hear the news, but there's one problem with this offer, since we left Zion in search of the one…'

'She has fallen in love with, Neo, and you don't think she'll leave him.'

'It is true that she has fallen in love, but I'm not sure that the problem is that she won't leave, the problem is that she will leave. Trinity was told by the oracle that she would fall in love with the one, hence why she fell in love with Neo, who loves her back very much, but Trinity's love is what makes Neo the one. Although Neo is the one without her, he will refuse to believe it and so Zion will fall. Maybe this is the reasoning behind the oracle's advice to you.'

'Something must happen within the next month; else she will leave the Nebuchadnezzar and Neo behind, not understanding what she is doing. She may be able to last, or think that she can last, for a few days, but she will soon miss him dearly, and by that time it would be too late.'

'I will see what happens, and maybe everything will work out. It all depends on Trinity's decision, so let us just hope she makes the right one.'

'Inform me when she has decided, Morpheus.'

'I will, councilor.'

'Goodbye Captain, and keep safe on you journeys.'

'Thank you, councilor.' Morpheus waited as Councilor Hammond put the phone down before he did just the same.

Neo and Trinity reported to the core after having their breakfast. This would be their last shift taken together for a couple of days, seeing as they couldn't be together all the time, and Trinity would be working a couple of night shifts. Morpheus was waiting when they arrived, and he informed them that they would be going into the construct and testing the latest programmed equipment; one of the best shifts that could be offered to anyone.

Whilst testing the equipment with Trinity, Neo decided he would try out some of his powers, switching his view to see the coding he started ending the code to see what the extents to his ability were so far along the line of life as the one. Mouse was soon sent in to help Trinity whilst Neo continued to work in his own little world of being the open. For some time Mouse and Trinity just watched Neo, but they soon got back to their work, occasionally surprised by some of the stuff that he could do. Sometimes he was flying around, others he was making things appear as if by magic in his hand, and at other points he seemed to be fighting no one, just seeing how fast he could move.

Neo stopped about ten meters in front of Trinity, telling her, 'Trin, shoot me.'

'What!' Mouse sounded shocked as shocked as Trinity as the exclaimed in unison.

'Please,' Neo said, persisting.

Trinity picked up her hand gun anxiously, holding it with an unsteady hand, pointing it at him. She fired one bullet, sending it straight at the man she loved. Neo held out one hand, making in stop in front of him, leaving both other rebels in shock, watching as he made the bullet fly around and then eventually drop to the floor.

'Right, Mr. Smart Ass,' Trinity said upon seeing Neo's smug look, 'dodge this.' She fired three more bullets directly at Neo, and as she had instructed him to do, he dodged them, not stopped them, just bent his body to move around them.

She grabbed a machine gun next, waiting until he was stood back up and ready, and then releasing a whole round at him. He stooped every bullet, about a meter in front of him. Once Trinity had stopped shooting, Neo lowered the bullets to the floor.

The three of them awoke again in the core to see that everyone had been crowded around the screens, watching what was going on. Dozer unplugged each of them, allowing them to get up from their chairs. Everyone was staring at Neo, apart from Trinity, who had found sudden fake interest in her boots. Neo stood still, unsure what to say or do. It was Tank who broke the awkward silence, 'shit, Neo, I knew you could do some stuff but that shit was bloody excellent.'

'Jesus, I'll ever know how you can do all that,' Cypher breathed, 'it's truly unbelievable.'

'You just turned up several notches on the super and phreaky scale,' Apoc said, completed by Switch, 'congratulations.'

Morpheus dismissed Neo, 'go on, Neo, go get some rest now, you've earned it. You too, Trinity.'

Neo nodded, leading Trinity out of the core. Trinity's usual confidence came back to her as they entered the mess hall to get some goop quickly before going back to bed for a couple of hours. Neo would be due to take a shift in the afternoon before her evening shift, and they both wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. Trinity was unsure how to react to what had gone on in the construct. She was in a strange position; considering that she and Neo were romantically involved and she had always emphasized how much she believed in him, but now he had proved himself and she didn't know what to do.

The words slowly came to her as they were eating together. She told him, 'I'm proud of you, Neo…'

She was cut off by him reaching for her hand across the table, taking it into his won ad squeezing lightly, thanking her silently, showing that no words were needed; he already knew how she felt.


End file.
